Sixty-eight. Sixty-seven. Sixty-six. The countdown is under way as Bill and I drive the winding, two-lane Bodega Highway toward Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast of California. Bill is at the wheel. He steals frequent glances at the thermometer onRead more
Competition is fierce, but my money is on the turtle named “Speedy,” the one the announcer says has been training by running, lifting weights, and swimming laps. I have no idea which turtle among the dozens is Speedy because theyRead more
My pulse quickens as always when my husband, Bill, and I cross Maybank Highway and head straight on Bohicket Road for the final stretch of the drive through Johns Island to Kiawah Island. It revs up more a few hundredRead more
Personal chef Erin Hraster is drizzling olive oil over nine eight-ounce Caribbean lobster tails in the kitchen of Vida de Mar, our rental beachfront villa on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Erin is comfortably dressed in black, stain-obscuringRead more
I’m standing on a precipice of my own choosing. The spot isn’t a vertiginous one of height and altitude from atop a mountain, but rather an oceanic one of depth and darkness along Maho Beach on the island of St.Read more
Visualize the life of Candace Rose Rardon: Visiting and living in 50 countries, 19 of them in one year alone. Hiking solo on a 220-mile pilgrimage through rural Turkey. Driving an auto-rickshaw 2,000 miles across India. Bathing an elephant inRead more
My left hand covers a small plastic container of pungent Italian Blend olive oil to capture the aromas while I gently swirl it in my right palm. With the pale green-gold contents now sufficiently warm. I sip, swallow, and eruptRead more
Singer Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco. I’m leaving my sweat. It’s high noon, fog-free, and an unseasonably warm 83 degrees near the intersection of Hayes and Octavia Streets in the City by the Bay. I’m lying inRead more
With the fabled California desert city of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley spread far below in a hazy morning shimmer, it occurs to me I have something in common with the large raven I spot scooting determinedly along aRead more
I’m dropping by parachute into the small, western California town of Point Reyes Station. Sam pilots my private plane. Lucky me that he sports the rugged blond good looks of Robert Redford in his Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidRead more